An evaporator provided in a refrigeration cycle decreases ambient temperature using cool air generated by the circulation of coolant flowing through a cooling tube. During the process, when there occurs a temperature difference from ambient air, a phenomenon of condensing and freezing moisture in the air on a surface of the cooling tube occurs.
A defrosting method using an electric heater has been used for a defrosting process for removing frost formed on an evaporator in the related art.
In recent years, a defrosting device using a heat pipe has been developed and contrived, and the related technologies include Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0469322, entitled “Evaporator.”
A heat pipe type defrosting device in the aforementioned patent “Evaporator” has a configuration in which a heater is vertically disposed in the top-down direction of the evaporator, and working fluid is filled only into a bottom portion of the heater. The defrosting device with the foregoing structure may increase the evaporation speed due to rapid heating but has a danger of overheating the heater.
Furthermore, it has a structure in which the heater is accommodated into the heat pipe, and thus high-temperature heat may be concentrated on an inside of the heat pipe, thereby reducing the lifespan of the heater as well as causing the sealing problem of the heater.